


Another Side of Me

by cresswells



Category: Darkest Powers - Kelley Armstrong
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-18
Updated: 2012-08-18
Packaged: 2017-11-12 10:06:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/489675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresswells/pseuds/cresswells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charming? Derek can do charming. He can be sweet and thoughtful and caring. And if Chloe would stop getting herself into trouble every five minutes, she'd see that. Chloe/Derek, post-Reckoning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Side of Me

"Way to go, bro," Simon muttered to me. We were sitting side by side in the backseat of Dad's van, watching the landmarks of yet another unfamiliar town pass us by.

"Huh?"

He rolled his eyes and waved a hand toward Chloe who was sitting in front of us, animatedly discussing a new movie release with Tori. She'd been studiously ignoring me for the past five hours. And with good reason.

I huffed and looked away. "I know what you're going to say, Simon."

"I wasn't going to say anything." He shook his head. "I think _she_ covered everything I would've said."

I grunted non-committally. It still felt weird to be discussing Chloe like this with Simon.

"You're gonna need to apologise to her," he continued. "Maybe with a grand gesture. Flowers. Chocolate. A poem." Simon grinned. "Trust me – girls _love_ poems. It doesn't even have to be good."

"Knock it off," I groaned. "You're not helping."

Chloe's long movie tirade had ended – perhaps she'd realised that her uninterested audience (Tori) had fallen asleep. Or perhaps she'd heard Simon's last words.

"Bro, you know I'm always here for you," Simon chose to say loudly now. "If you need any advice – a helping hand to charm your way back into her good books – look no further. I'm your guy."

In front of us, Chloe stiffened. Simon, oblivious, carried on talking.

"Trust me. I bet I can get you two love-birds back together in five minutes. Ten minutes tops. Follow my guidance, and you'll be just as nauseatingly couple-y as you were before – "

Chloe's head whipped around, newly-blonde hair swinging over her shoulder. Her blue eyes were narrowed into slits, shooting daggers at the both of us. Simon recoiled. I didn't blame him - for such a tiny girl, she'd mastered a pretty intimidating glare. Perhaps she'd been practising with Tori.

"Simon," she said, deliberately refusing to acknowledge my existence. "Kindly shut up. And tell _your brother_ that if he's looking for forgiveness, he'll have to do a lot better than his usual mumbled excuses and a half-hearted apology this time."

She turned her back on us again before either of us could do more than gape at her.

_Yep._ I thought. _She's definitely been practising with Tori._

"Ouch." Simon shook his head. "Sorry, bro. Okay, so maybe flowers and a card aren't going to cut it. We're gonna have to bring out the big guns."

Chloe snorted, folding her arms.

"Simon," I muttered, hoping she wouldn't hear the embarrassment in my tone. "You heard Chloe. Kindly shut up."

"I'm telling you," he stage-whispered. "You've just got to give it some of the Simon Bae charm. You'll have her falling back into your arms in no t – hey! That hurt!"

Simon rubbed his arm ruefully and I instantly regretted shoving him. I hoped a bruise wouldn't form.

"Seriously, cut it out," I said gruffly, rubbing a hand over my eyes. I hoped that Chloe wouldn't look back at us again. Conversations like this always made me uncomfortable and I was pretty sure my face was flushed right now.

"Sorry," Simon said easily. "I'll shut up, I promise."

I snorted. _Yeah, that'll be the day._ Apparently Chloe was thinking the same thing, because I heard a much more delicate huff coming from her direction. Simon grinned, shaking his head.

"Dude," he said. "She's been spending _way_ too much time with you."

I shook my head, but couldn't resist smiling a little.

"You do kind of deserve the silent treatment," Simon added unhelpfully.

"It's not my fault," I grumbled. "What's rule number one? Don't wander off without letting someone else know where you're going first. If she'd just told me – "

But Simon was shaking his head. "Yeah, and what's rule number two? Head down, don't draw attention to yourselves. And I hate to be the one to break this to you, Derek, but when you start yelling at the top of your lungs in the middle of the night, it tends to draw attention."

" _She_ was the one wandering around outside at four in the morning!" I argued, frustrated beyond belief that everyone seemed to be taking Chloe's side. "What was I supposed to do, just sit back, keep my mouth shut and pray she came home in one piece?"

"I told you," Chloe interrupted. She hadn't turned around, but I could feel the anger radiating from her anyway. "There was a ghost out there. She said she needed my help – "

"You should've call me first," I hissed. "That's your problem, Chloe, you're good-hearted and all, but you just don't _think_ – "

" _I_ d-don't think?" Chloe was fuming now, letting her anger get the best of her. It was rare that she stuttered nowadays – especially when talking to me. "Tell th-that to the boy who woke half the t-t-town before I could even explain – "

"Okay guys," Lauren called and I realised that the van was jerking to a stop. We'd pulled up in a small truck stop, one situated beside a petrol pump and a small convenience store. "Kit and I feel that you could use a break. But only for ten minutes and then we've got to be back on the road. Stretch your legs. Get some fresh air. And _don't_ wander off alone, you hear?" This last part was aimed at Chloe. She blushed and ducked her head.

"Brilliant." Simon was out of the claustrophobic van in an instant, drinking in the fresh air. I clambered out after him. The girls followed, but with one withering glare in my direction, Tori grabbed Chloe's hand and dragged her away. I had the feeling that Tori enjoyed it a little too much when Chloe and I weren't on speaking terms.

"Great." I shoved my hands in the pockets of my hoodie and glowered at Tori's back. Yeah, I knew I was being childish. But it made me feel better.

Simon laughed. "Come on," he said, grabbing my arm and steering me over to the convenience store. "I'll teach you how to win her back. Just listen carefully and do _everything_ I say..."

* * *

Five minutes later, we were standing outside again, the mid-morning sun beating down on our backs. Tori had wandered a little way off, glancing hopefully in the direction of a group of good-looking skateboarders. Chloe was sitting on a picnic bench, video camera in her hands. She stared up at the sky. I stared at her.

"Go." Simon made a shooing gesture. "Talk to her. Apologise. Tell her how you feel."

"I feel like wringing your neck right now," I muttered.

Simon winced. "Okay. Don't tell her that." He gave me a shove in Chloe's direction and I eyed him murderously.

"Now?"

"Yes! Now!"

"I can't go up to her now," I growled. "She's still mad. We'll just end up fighting again." Truth be told, I was regretting enlisting Simon's help. What if she took one look at the gift I'd brought her and laughed in my face? My eyes darted around, looking for an escape route.

"Uh-uh," Simon said. He steered me in the right direction. "Just remember: grovel like your life depends on it. She's in the right, you're in the wrong. She looks fantastic in that green sweater. Oh, and you'll never do it again. And use that wounded puppy expression that always works so well on Dad. Yeah, that's the one. Oh look – there she is!" With one more nudge, he propelled me in front of Chloe and scampered away.

Well, there was nothing else for it now. I shuffled a bit closer and stopped, waiting awkwardly for her to acknowledge that I was there. She had to know I was looming over her. My frame was blocking her light. But she wouldn't look up.

"Hey," I said.

Chloe didn't reply. Apparently the video camera in her lap (which was currently switched-off) was more worthy of her attention than me. I cleared my throat and tried again.

"Chloe," I said. "Um... look, could you just hear me out for a minute?"

She took her time looking up at me.

"Why?" she asked angrily. "So you can yell at me some more?"

Ouch.

"No," I said. "But you can yell at me if you like. I know I deserve it."

Behind her, Simon winked and sent me a thumbs-up. But Chloe didn't seem so impressed.

"Don't you turn this into a new excuse to belittle yourself." She shook her head. "I'm angry enough at you for the both of us."

I swore, running a hand through my hair in exasperation. "I can't win," I muttered. "Here." I held out the bag for her to take.

Chloe stared. "Um," she said. "Derek, what's this?"

I shrugged. "It's an 'I'm-sorry-your-boyfriend's-such-a-jerk' gift." I set it down on the picnic bench, pushed it towards her and folded my arms. She eyed the plastic bag warily.

"Let me guess," she said, with a sideways glance towards Simon, who was still standing within hearing distance, now pretending to study a poster of the London underground. "Chocolates?"

"Uh..." I shook my head.

"Flowers?"

Another head-shake.

Chloe raised her eyebrows and reached across the table to peer into the bag. She was quiet for a moment.

"Um, Derek?" she asked finally. "You brought me... batteries?"

Behind Chloe, Simon groaned loudly, slapping a hand to his forehead. Great. Apparently I'd messed up again. I ducked my head, scratching my forearm absently.

"Well... yeah," I said defensively. "'Cause... you said you were running low. And I thought... well, this might be the last truck stop we come across for a while. And sometimes, when you're bored, you like to film stuff during long journeys. So..." I trailed off, feeling like an idiot.

Chloe was looking at me strangely. "Did Simon tell you to buy them?" she asked.

I shook my head and looked away from her again. I wished Simon wasn't listening in. My palms were sweaty and my whole body felt flushed. I'd left my emergency deodorant in the van. I lifted my arm with the pretence of raking a hand through my hair again and took a surreptitious sniff. Damn. I hated being on the road.

"You know what Simon told me," I pointed out. "You were there."

"But you chose to ignore him."

"Yeah," I grunted, my face reddening under her scrutiny. I cleared my throat. "But, uh, I guess I'm supposed to tell you – I mean, I wanted to say... sorry. And, y'know, that I love you. And... you look... no, crap... I'm saying this in the wrong order... let me start again – "

Chloe stood up, lifting a finger to my lips. I shut up immediately.

"Derek," she said, getting straight to the point. "I'm sorry for running off into the woods in the middle of the night. It was stupid and rash of me and I should've woken you first."

I stared blankly at her. Well that was unexpected. "Um... okay?"

She smiled and took my hand in her little one. "And you're sorry for yelling at me, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I mean, that's what I've been trying to say. That I'm sorry. I was worried about you and I over-reacted. I don't want us to fight over this any more."

Chloe beamed. "Right. That's settled then." And she reached up on her tip-toes to kiss my cheek.

"Wait," I said, frowning. "That's it?"

"Yep."

"But Simon said – "

"Ignore Simon," Chloe interrupted. "Flowers and chocolate are great and all, but it's not your style. I can do without that stuff."

"But – "

"I have a confession to make," she told me now.

I gulped. "What is it?"

To my confusion, Chloe blushed. "You've been taking advice from Simon all day, right?"

"Well..." I scratched at my arm, embarrassed. "Yeah. Kind of."

She laughed nervously. "I've been taking advice from Tori."

I could only gape. "What?"

She ducked her head sheepishly again. "I know, I know. She's been telling me to ignore you all morning. At first I was angry with you, but then when I saw how much you wanted to make things right, I calmed down and realised that maybe I was in the wrong too. But Tori insisted I make you suffer a little." Chloe stared over at Tori. "Truth be told, I think she gets lonely sometimes, when I spend all my time with you."

I glanced over at her. Tori wasn't looking at the skateboarders any more. She was sitting by herself a little way off, scuffing the dirt with her leather boots.

"Yeah," I said. "I think you're right."

I looked away and caught Simon's eye. Neither of us had particularly liked Tori at first, but we'd come to respect her. She'd become part of the pack whether she liked it or not. And she'd been through a hell of a lot more in the last few months than the rest of us.

Simon nodded at me and started to walk towards her. Chloe, who'd noticed our exchange, smiled.

"Thank you for the gift," she said now.

"It was a stupid idea," I muttered.

"No," Chloe said. "It was a lovely idea. Really. Much more thoughtful than flowers or a card. And it's practical, like you." She smiled and kissed me again – on the lips this time. I kissed her back, bending down and wrapping my arms around her waist as she stretched up to meet me.

"See?" She grinned as I pulled away. "You don't need Simon's help. You can be charming when you want to be. It's just... your own kind of charm."

I snorted, but she knotted her fingers through mine and kissed me again, silencing any disparaging remark I might have made. Behind us, I could hear fake-retching. Simon and Tori, of course.

Despite his valiant attempts at playing the matchmaker, I knew Simon still wasn't entirely okay with Chloe and I. Sure, he'd defend me to the ends of the earth and he'd support us no matter what, but deep down he was still hurt. He just didn't like to show it.

I guessed Simon and Tori had that in common.

Still, when we pulled away, Simon jogged up to us, flinging an arm around Chloe's shoulder as we made our way back to the van.

"You're hopeless," he told me. "Completely hopeless. You'd better count yourself lucky that she's hopeless too."

Tori huffed. "You've got that right."

"Ignore them," Chloe said to me, smiling brightly. "They're just sore losers. Neither of them want to admit that they both gave us terrible advice."

"Terrible advice? Moi?" Simon held a hand to his heart in mock-outrage.

"That's right," Chloe said. Tori smirked.

At that, Simon launched into a fake-tirade against all three of us. I drowned most of it out, grinning as we reached the van and Chloe climbed over the backseat to sit beside me. Lauren and Kit, already waiting in the front seats, looked back at us bemusedly.

"Hopeless," I heard Lauren mutter. "All four of them. Completely hopeless."


End file.
